Volga is not in vain is considered one of the greatest rivers of the world, its length is 3530 km and a catchment area of 1.3 million square kilometers in the envy of many European countries.In ancient times it was known as Ra in the Middle Ages it was called Itil.
Home takes among marshy lake Valdai Hills.By winding valley, moving from west to east, it flows through the Upland.Each new tributary of the Volga, merging with it, making it more and more affluent.When he reached the foothills of the Urals, the city of Kazan, the channel turns sharply to the south, and making your way through a chain of ridges, goes to the Caspian depression.At the confluence of the Caspian Sea formed a huge delta.
river system includes about 151 thousand different streams with a total length of more than 574,000 kilometers.The river join 300 other smaller river flows along the length.Most of them runs into her on the segment from the source to the city of Kazan.It should be noted that the left tributaries is much larger than the right, and besides, they are also much more abounding.85 km from Kazan River flows into the Kama - the largest tributary of the Volga.
who's boss: the ancient Ra or Kama
truly large and affluent is the main artery of the European part of Russia became after the merger with Kama.Near the city of Togliatti Volga hydroelectric dam, blocking the channel, it forms a huge Kuibyshev reservoir.In this body of water and flows into the largest left tributary of the Volga.
On the basic hydrological parameters should be considered the main Kama and Volga - its right tributary.The first observations of the scientists conducted back in 1875, showed that the confluence it carries in its line of 3100 m3 of water per second, and the Kama - 4300. It turns out that a full-flowing tributary of the Volga.This is due to the fact that most of its basin is located in the taiga zone, where rainfall is higher than in other parts of the Volga basin.
There are several grounds on which the main river should be considered as the Kama.One of them - it is located above the source of the beginning of the Volga, and the geography it is a sign of supremacy.And the total number of tributaries of the great Russian river Kama inferior.
And most importantly - the Kama already existed at the time when the most famous Russian River was not.In the first half of the Quaternary period, to the largest glaciers Kama, merging with Wisher carrying its waters along the ancient bed of the Caspian Sea.
But in the history of Russia and its culture value of the largest rivers of Europe undeniably weighty.Thus Kama - tributary of the Volga, period.
River pre-Ice Age
Oka also be considered a progenitor of the Volga valley since it was formed even before the Ice Age.It starts at the Upland, the height of its source 226 m. It flows into the main river near the city of Nizhny Novgorod.The area of its basin is 245,000 km2.The length of the Oka is 1480 kilometers, and it is the nature of the flow of a typical lowland river with a gradient averaging about 0,11o / oo.The largest right tributary of the Volga, on the specifics of the river valley and the channel is divided into upper and lower parts.The Oka river flow are known as Moscow, Moksha and Klyazma.
